Liberty One Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,631 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BANF. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in BancFirst by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 25.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 4,324 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,888,000 after buying an additional 16,664 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in BancFirst by 16.0% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in BancFirst by 64.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $3,075,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 249,106 shares in the company, valued at $30,640,038. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,500. This represents a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,150 shares of company stock worth $15,442,825. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $119.75 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $121.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. BancFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. Analysts forecast that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.58%.

BancFirst Profile

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments.